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NATIONAL HIGHWAY SYSTEM
In response to growing recognition of the importance of highway transportation
to the Canadian economy and the need for action to preserve Canada’s highway
infrastructure, in 1987, the Federal/Provincial/Territorial Council of Ministers
Responsible for Transportation and Highway Safety commissioned a multi-year
National Highway Policy Study which established criteria that could be applied
in each region of the country to define a National Highway System.
As a result, the National Highway System was first defined and endorsed in 1988
by the Council of Ministers and included more than 24,300 kilometres of existing
primary routes that support inter-provincial and international trade and travel
by connecting, as directly as possible, a capital city, or major provincial
population or commercial centre in Canada with:
- another major provincial population or commercial centre;
- another major population or commercial centre in an adjacent province or
territory;
- a major port of exit or entry with the United States; and
- another transportation mode directly served by the highway mode, for
example ferry terminals.
In September 2003, the Council of Deputy Ministers responsible for
Transportation and Highway Safety directed a committee of officials to undertake
the first ever review of the highway system route designation and assess whether
conditions have changed since 1988, as some existing provincial and territorial
routes could now satisfy the criteria originally used to identify the system.
Any changes to the system are subject to the approval of the Council of
Ministers. Therefore, on September 23, 2004, as a result of demographic, social
and economic changes over the past 15 years, the Council of Ministers agreed to
add approximately 2,700 kilometres of additional strategic and nationally
important highway routes to the existing 1988 National Highway System, an 11 per
cent increase. These 2004 additions, along with the 1988 system designations,
are now considered the core system.
In addition, the Council of Ministers also agreed to establish a working
group to develop criteria to identify additional routes that, if agreed upon,
would primarily represent highways that are important from a provincial,
territorial and regional perspective.
The task force has now completed its work and has recommended that the
Ministers approve the addition of close to 4,500 kilometres of feeder routes and
over 5,900 kilometres of northern and remote routes to the system. In addition,
the task force is also recommending over 500 kilometres of key intermodal
connectors and close to 100 kilometres of corrections be added under the core
routes.
The task force recommendations were approved by the Council of Ministers on
September 22, 2005. The National Highway System now consists of over 38,000
kilometres of highways that are important from a national and regional
perspective. This amounts to a 56 per cent increase in the network length over
what was approved in 1988.
These routes are outlined in the National Highway System review report, which
was presented at the Council of Minister’s meeting on September 22, 2005. The
report is available at www.comt.ca
September 2005
NATIONAL HIGHWAY SYSTEM MAP
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